


the new emissary from hell (not clickbait)

by chosuiri



Category: Granblue Fantasy (Video Game)
Genre: College AU, Cosplay Cafe, Crack-ish, Gen, Modern AU, grimnir initiates himself with the goths (tm), m2 are besties
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-12-24
Updated: 2020-12-24
Packaged: 2021-03-11 05:47:55
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,849
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28270107
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/chosuiri/pseuds/chosuiri
Summary: Grimnir's friends apparently are being voiced to go home for break and so Grimnir's the only one staying on campus during Winter Break. At Alexiel's suggestion, Grimnir decides to go get a job at one of the cafes in downtown. It turns out he turned a strange cafe that claims to be the gateway to hell... or something like that.Written for the GBF Secret Santa 2020!
Comments: 3
Kudos: 8
Collections: GBF Secret Santa 2020





	the new emissary from hell (not clickbait)

**Author's Note:**

> if this is ooc, i'm sorry. anyway this was written for the gbf secret santa! happy holidays, sol!
> 
> funny cuz I got you for the idolish7 ss too... here we are again. i hope you enjoy!

“W-Wait, you guys aren’t staying?” Grimnir sputters, stopping himself from spitting out his hot chocolate. His lips quiver as he looks over his usual squad, their faces grim and apologetic. “I-I mean… I guess it’s only natural that you guys…”

“I would’ve stayed if I could,” Alexiel sighs, “actually, I would’ve  _ loved _ to. However, Master Uriel would spam my phone if I didn’t come back.”

“Same goes for me, but it’s my job back at home. It seems like they’ll be needing me for the holiday season,” Europa frowns, wincing at the thought. “Next year I’ll stay, so don’t worry.”

“I’m afraid I also need to lead some ceremonies during the holidays. Fear not, I will come back soon after the New Year.” Shiva nods, crossing his arms.

Grimnir chokes back his sobs, nodding slowly. “I-I will miss you guys soooo much! Be safe!” 

They all beam at him with Alexiel giving him a thumbs up too. “Why not try out something new too, Grimnir? I heard some cafes downtown are hiring.”

Grimnir starts imagining showing off to his friends how he can make coffee and all those little pastries-- maybe… maybe? Heheh. “I’ll… think about it!” He says with a small smile. “Are they ready though? For the God of War to descend upon the--”

“Well,” Europa smiles as she puts a reassuring hand on Grimnir’s shoulder, “you can become the God of Customer Service now.”

That sounds lame! Nonetheless, Grimnir will have to own it. He smirks, doing a flip of his hair like the antagonistic rival character in every popular anime. “Right! Next time you see me, I’ll be like a new man!”

“As will I.” Shiva nods, “with the new year, we will all become born anew.”

Alexiel laughs, “Maybe that’s an exaggeration… either way, we’ll see you next year, Grimnir!”

Realizing that this  _ would _ be the last time he sees his friends before next year, he opens his arms wide and pulls them in. His friends laugh, reciprocating and then the four of them are in a group hug. Nice and warm…

* * *

Unexpectedly, job hunting went well. The first cafe that caught his eye was the cosplay cafe. It seemed to be the closest to his vibe, generally? Not because he saw some super cool cosplayers-- well, it seems like they preferred doing something that Grimnir would call closer to the depths of hell. Demons! Dark angels! Not quite what Grimnir was aiming for, but he’ll take it! Maybe he’ll look fetching in black after all?

“You want to work here?” The other white-haired man asks him. He doesn’t look that much older than him, probably around his mid-20s-- he had some intense make-up going on and quite the striking ensemble. He looked like a fallen angel or something... That was probably his aesthetic. He grins as soon as Grimnir sits down awkwardly on the couch across from him. “Heheh. You must be super impressed with my storefront. Way better than Cafe Millenia, right?”

Grimnir has never gone to Cafe Millenia before.

“Uh… yeah!” Grimnir stammers, hoping that’s the correct answer. Oh god, he didn’t expect to get this far. He’s so unprepared for this interview. “Really…. Uh… striking! Yes! Suitable for someone like me, the unwavering tempest--”

“Bwahaha! Isn’t that right! Befitting… a hellish place suitable for bringing our customers into the gates of hell itself!”

What? W-Wait, just go with it, Grimnir! “Y-yeah… gates of hell… the haven for demons…”

The man nods, satisfied with Grimnir’s answers. “You get it. You also seem to be blessed-- er, cursed, with the evil eye.”

Oh, yeah! That comes in handy, huh? “Right! This is my all-powerful and all-seeing eye… heh. Foolish of me to not have sealed it.”

“I think by exposing it you do a better job of showing your strength. Mere peons will tremble beneath the power… of heterophobia.”

Is that what it’s called? He swears it’s called heterochromia…

“Heterochromia, you mean?”

“No. Heterophobia.”

Okay. Grimnir’s just going to go with it to make sure his job prospects stay intact.

The other man coughs, changing the subject. “Hmph…. Well, that said… I think you would make a great addition to the cafe. My name is Azazel! Remember that well! And yours?”

“Ah! I’m the Tempest God of War… Grimniiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiir!” He poses. Because of course, he has to.

“Ah, so a God has descended to hell…” Azazel smirks, nodding his head as if he’s found out something so profound. “Very well. When can you start?”

He remembers his dad saying that getting a job wouldn’t be so easy… well, jokes on you, dad! It was just that easy! “Classes and finals are done for the semester, so anytime! I am available all the time!”

“Hehehe. Excellent.” Azazel nods as he gets up from his chair, rummaging through assorted documents on what Grimnir assumes was the desk. Probably where most of the actual business aspects take place. Azazel fishes out a few papers, neatly putting them into a stack for Grimnir to look at. He then starts guiding the other through the paperwork, some of which he had to consult his adoptive father for…

Grimnir excitedly gushes to his friends about the fact he had already found a job. They all congratulated him, but Europa decided to send a rather ominous message.

_ From: Europa _

_ Make sure it isn’t a scam okay? ^^” _

* * *

On his first day, Grimnir finds that he’s working with another girl. It seems like Azazel takes it upon himself to be the one behind the kitchen preparing orders. Hm… are they understaffed?

When he comes in, though, the girl who looks to be around the same age as him, waves him over with a small smile. “Oh, you’re the new employee?” She asks as she fiddles with her (fake) horns. It seems like they don’t cosplay from any particular series, but in general as some fallen angels. They look… super cool! It seems like Azazel still gets decked out in cosplay even if he’s working in the kitchen. Now that’s a commitment to the craft.

“Heh… you have heard correctly. I am the Mad Cyclone, the God of War… Grimnir! Did I need to have a costume prepared?” He asks with uncertainty, but the other girl hums for a second before breaking out into a smile.

“Well… we’ll make it work. You might be able to fit in one of Manager’s old costumes,” She beckons Grimnir to follow her, and they go into the employee dressing room where a whole rack of costumes stood. “I’m Olivia, by the way. Surprised to see that guy hired someone else…” She starts going through the costumes, taking them out one by one and holding them out for Grimnir to look at. There was something that more traditionally suited a butler cafe, but Olivia puts it back very quickly.

Grimnir blinks, reaching for it, “Miss Olivia? That one looks cool, why not that?”

“You’ll attract too many customers,” she says plainly as she guides Grimnir’s hand to put the costume back on the rack. “We don’t want that, don’t we?”

“We’d get more tips though?” Grimnir offers.

“Not worth the Manager getting pissed and yelling so loud that all of the kitchenware collapses on him, rendering him useless and flat on the floor.” Olivia shakes her head, rubbing her temples at the thought. “Let’s do something more subdued.”

* * *

So Olivia’s apparent idea of “more subdued” was this large, rather rotund costume that Azazel wore during Halloween. Grimnir feels like an oversized marshmallow in this thing. Embarrassing, but cuddly. For some reason, Azazel thinks it’s the most terrifying thing ever known to man and would surely get those puny mortals all riled up.

_ What. _

“Y’know… even I have my limits here…” Grimnir sighs as he tugs at the clownishly large bow on him. “Ahh…. this is soooo embarrassing.”

“Aw, don’t say that,” Olivia returns with a smile, “you look… um…”

“Truly frightening!” Azazel interrupts the both of them, arms crossed triumphantly as he steps between them. He then squats around Grimnir, inspecting him in the costume from all angles before walking back over next to Olivia. He gives an approving nod, “Heh… now this is peak. Our customers will tremble in fear and awe at such harbingers of misfortune.”

Olivia rolls her eyes before plastering on a smile. “Why, of course! Grimnir here will be my most fearsome henchman…”

“Henchman? I’m a god--”

“Fine, my henchman who is actually the God of War.” Olivia smiles before turning on her heel and walking to the front of the shop to flip the open sign over and unlocking the door. Azazel, seemingly satisfied with all of this, gives a grunt of approval as he walks back to the kitchen.

Wait, Grimnir still doesn’t know much of what to do, though? He looks a little dumbfounded until Olivia turns back around, beckoning Grimnir over with a finger.

Sort of confused, Grimnir gulps as he responds to her summon and walks over. Maybe she’s just going to tell him how to do the job! It’s just training, right?

As if immediately betraying his expectations, Olivia grabs an overly dramatic black sign and places it in Grimnir’s hands. She smiles sweetly, “now, go attract some customers for us!”

Huh? Him? What?

“Are you sure this is going to work?” Grimnir squeaks, “umm… y’know… shouldn’t I be looking cooler if we want customers--”

“Oh, it’ll be fine! Promise!” Olivia reassures him, “even if we get no customers we’ll still get paid because the manager’s kind of loaded… this is like his day job?”

“Umm…. if you say so!” Grimnir nods, taking the sign, not able to question anymore as Olivia decides to forcibly shuffle him out of the cafe into the busy streets. And then, now Grimnir has all eyes on him. Huh! All this attention… it’s kind of exciting? He even notices people taking out their phones. Ah, he’s just that photogenic. Of course! Heh…. one at a time, mortals…

* * *

Somehow, for reasons that boggled even Olivia, customers began to flock to the cafe because of Grimnir’s advertising. Something about this cuddly-- er, guardian of hell attracted more people to stop by. Azazel, of course, reveled in the sudden influx of customers, somehow cooking even faster. Olivia wasn’t ill-prepared for the rush, but she ended up dragging Grimnir back inside the cafe to help her out. Thrown right into taking orders, Grimnir  _ did _ have his struggles, but his acting as the super scary demon landed him a bunch of tips.

This brings them to now after the cafe closed. Olivia’s currently mopping while Grimnir overheated, so he just took the top half of the costume off. Azazel shuffles through the stacks of dollars from the cash register, scrawling out numbers on a notepad and using his phone’s calculator. Grimnir notes a maniacal smile growing on Azazel’s lips as he works on calculating the totals made today. Triumphant, he slides his phone across the table to Grimnir. “Grimnir, can you take a photo for me?”

“M-Me? Uh, sure?” Grimnir stammers, picking up the phone off the table and activating its camera. Azazel poses with the notepad, pointing toward the circled number. Hoping that’s what his boss wanted, Grimnir takes the photo and hands him back the phone.

“Excellent. Now that stupid Sandalphon can go SUCK it.” Azazel exclaims as he furiously texts away on his phone.

Should Grimnir be concerned? He trembles slightly as he watches Azazel immerse himself in gloating to someone  _ over text _ , and shakes again when Azazel takes half of the change from the tip jar. His shoulders visibly relax when Azazel places the money in Grimnir’s hand. Somehow, they’ve made enough so that he and Olivia got fifteen dollars each. Isn’t that a big deal? “You’re not taking any?”

“Huh? Nah.” Azazel shrugs, “it’s thanks to you and Olivia we got so many people entering the depths of hell. Surely we made them realize the greatness of it, right?”

“R-Right…” Grimnir returns with uncertainty, cheeks flushed as he accepts the cash. “Thank you sooo much, boss! Cafe Thanatos will get even more popular in no time!”

“Heh… very well. You are now the official emissary of hell, Grimnir. You’re free for now.” Azazel nods with a small smile.

Grimnir’s eyes light up, nodding in agreement. “Yes! I’ll do my best!”

* * *

“Hey, Grimnir? Some customers are asking for you.” Olivia calls over as she traverses the cafe floor with the tray of milkshakes.

Grimnir blinks, rarely had he had customers request him. Usually, they’d be asking him for Olivia to come to take their order instead-- which he doesn’t mind. Since Grimnir was known for donning the marshmallow devil suit until recently, his popularity as a waiter hasn’t exactly skyrocketed. It’s been around a few weeks since he’s started working here, and it seems like Cafe Thanatos attracted a lot of attention after Olivia’s publicity stunt as Grimnir being the new emissary from hell… something like that, anyway. Grimnir was later horrified to find that a video of him in the costume was uploaded on SkyTube and started trending…

“I’ll be right there!” He finally returns, putting in the order for Azazel before starting a new check and approaching the table Olivia indicated. Then he sees some extremely familiar faces.

“Huh? Guys? Why did you come?” Grimnir sputters, his face burning as he fiddles with his suit. This time, he’s wearing that butler-like costume Olivia rejected before. This time, he’s to act like the perfect butler… Butler from hell, anyway. He coughs, clearing his throat. “I-I mean… welcome, masters. What will you be ordering today--”

“Aw, Grimnir! I want to pinch your cheeks when you’re all dolled up like that.” Europa pipes up with that same serene smile on her face, “it seems like this cafe wasn’t much of a scam after all.”

Shiva nods, “On the contrary, it seems like the children of men took a liking to such a… place. It was very ‘geez’ to see you all over that… what was it again, Alexiel?”

“SkyTube,” Alexiel answers, raising a fist for Grimnir. “Looks like you made it big, Grim. Here.”

Grimnir bumps his fist against Alexiel’s before pulling back. “I’m surprised too, y’know! If I knew it was to be my internet debut… I would’ve been more prepared to announce my presence!”

“Ahaha, I think you’ll get there eventually,” Europa reassures him, turning her eyes back to the menu. “Well… it’s great to see you at work, Grimnir.”

“Let’s get our orders in,” Alexiel interrupts as she glances over the menu herself. “I’ll have the cherry parfait.”

“I’ll have the earl grey souffle pancakes,” Europa smiles, “add a cup of your favorite tea for me too, Grimnir.”

“G-Got it!” Grimnir exclaims as he jots down their orders, then looking at Shiva. “What about you, Shiva?”

Shiva pauses, his eyes glazing over the menu before he shrugs and places the menu back on top of the others. “Anything will be fine.”

“Anything?”

“Have the chef surprise me.”

Grimnir sighs, “Um, are you sure? Like… Boss gets excited when he has the opportunity to experiment.”

“Then isn’t that all the more reason to do so?” Shiva asks with a chuckle, “I will eat anything you give me, Grimnir.”

A compliment, maybe? Well, it’s not like he’s the one making it… regardless, he bobs his head and goes with it. He’s a bit wary of what creation his boss will serve to one of his best friends…

* * *

By the time his friend’s food is ready, the influx of customers finally slowed. It’s one of the quiet times, so Olivia gave Grimnir a free pass to sit with his friends for a spell. Call it special treatment, or something like that. It turns out Azazel just whipped up something called cube toast that he was planning to add to the menu for the new year. It  _ was _ rather menacing for Shiva to eat all by himself, so the four of them settled on sharing it. Of course, Azazel seemed to have used charcoal or something to make it all black. Truly befitting coming from the gateway to hell. 

“This is… quite tasty,” Shiva chews on it thoughtfully, giving a thumbs up. Grimnir beams at this, even though his work isn’t quite the stuff being praised.

“Right? Right?” Grimnir exclaims, “the boss makes such tasty food! I didn’t expect it from him!”

“Maybe you should learn from him,” Alexiel jokes as she takes another bite out of it. “It seems like you learned a lot from your time here… you should probably keep working when the semester starts too.”

“I agree…~” Europa hums as she takes a sip out of her tea, “this might be my new favorite place.”

Grimnir nods, reflecting on how he somehow made friends with Olivia and Azazel. In his time here, he learned that the both of them were college dropouts, although Olivia also does modeling-- he still doesn’t know about what Azazel’s night job is.

Well, in that case, he’ll keep being the emissary of hell!

**Author's Note:**

> thank you for reading! can someone draw grimnir in azazel's Halloween outfit now (just kidding.... unless?)
> 
> please enjoy all the other works being posted from the gbf ss!!! you can check out the event [here](https://twitter.com/GBFSS2020).
> 
> [twitter](https://twitter.com/nobleflamme).


End file.
